Firm Chair A.B. Culvahouse has been asked by Sen. John McCain, the Republican Party's Presidential nominee, to consult with him on selecting the party's Vice Presidential nominee, according to reports by CNN and the Associated Press on Wednesday that quoted the Arizona senator.

CNNPolitics.com reported that, "on Wednesday [Sen. McCain] said A.B. Culvahouse, a longtime Washington, D.C. lawyer, would head up his search for a number two."

The AP story discussing McCain's decision to consult Culvahouse was picked up by newspapers and television stations around the country. AP Writer Libby Quaid wrote: "McCain, who plans to mix campaign appearances with fundraising in the next week, also said he wants to talk with people who have been involved with such a process before. Specifically, he mentioned A.B. Culvahouse, who served as counsel to President Reagan from 1987-1989, as someone he wanted to speak with." Culvahouse has a lengthy and impressive public service resume spanning a variety of advisory and legal counselor roles at the highest levels of government, for which he has been awarded the Presidential Citizens’ Medal and the Defense Medal for Distinguished Public Service. He was Counsel to President Ronald Reagan Reagan and currently is a member of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board and serves on the Board of Trustees of the Brookings Institution. His past service includes a host of boards and commissions, including the Federal Advisory Committee on Nuclear Failsafe and Risk Reduction, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Commission on the Regulation of US Capital Markets in the 21st Century, the Supreme Court Fellows Commission, the Board of Visitors of the U.S. Naval Academy, and the Counterintelligence Advisory Panel to the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. Before joining O'Melveny, from June 1973 until November 1976, Culvahouse was Chief Legislative Assistant and Counsel to U.S. Senator Howard H. Baker, Jr.

Other news accounts on Wednesday described the role Culvahouse will play for Sen. McCain, as well as his stature, and that of O'Melveny, in Washington legal circles. During a discussion of Sen. McCain's running mate selection process on CNN's "The Situation Room" yesterday, CNN correspondent Dana Bash reported this on the air:

"[Sen. McCain] admitted to reporters that he has enlisted the help of somebody who is well-respected on this issue, A.B. Culvahouse. He was Ronald Reagan's counsel back in the day. He is somebody who is a known lawyer in Washington. He is going to help Senator McCain vet whomever will be his running mate. Senator McCain insists he is not yet thinking really about those names, but he is thinking about the process, making sure that whomever he picks is properly vetted."

Jonathan Martin, a writer who covers the Republican side of the Presidential campaign for the widely read political website, Politico.com, posted this reaction to the news: "Culvahouse, one of the original "Lawyers for McCain," is a pillar of Washington's Republican legal community. He's chairman of the powerhouse firm O'Melveny & Myers. A Tennessean, Culvahouse cut his political teeth working on the staff of Sen. Howard Baker in the '70s."

Culvahouse is the second Firm leader in recent years to serve in this capacity for a major Presidential party nominee. In 1992, Senior Partner Warren Christopher, a past Firm Chairman, headed the search for then-Governor Bill Clinton's running mate, Al Gore.